The same is undeniably true of Carol, but it’s interesting how subjective the idea of strength is in this apocalyptic landscape: I’d argue that it takes far more strength to allow yourself to feel in a world where loss is a constant, relentless certainty - making yourself numb might be easier, but it doesn’t require much intestinal fortitude, if you’re just trying to sleep at night. “I lost everything and it made me stronger.” “I’m still me, but better,” she told Carol. Is one group more entitled to live than another? How is that worthiness determined? That conflict was personified in Paula, Carol’s dark mirror image, who believed that shutting off her conscience made her somehow greater than she used to be. But as “The Walking Dead” expands its world and introduces more characters who have all found their own means of surviving this long, we’re finally starting to get a more nuanced look at what the cost of living is in this new world. In seasons past, it’s been easy to talk in absolutes: Rick’s group = good, Governor = bad. While “TWD” often lacks the elegance of Vince Gilligan’s TV masterpiece, it’s nice to see the show tackling those thorny ethical questions without worrying too much about whether a few shades of grey in our heroes will put us off. That these characters remain likable even when doing heinous things is a testament to the groundwork that the writers have laid over the past few years, and the show is finally venturing into territory so expertly trodden by another AMC hit, “Breaking Bad,” which wasn’t afraid to take its “hero” to dark places in the name of good storytelling. While I don’t believe that Rick takes these acts of violence lightly either, it’s been fascinating to see where each character lands on the spectrum of whether the ends truly justify the means in recent episodes. While Rick is unflinchingly mutilating zombie faces and shooting men in the head at point blank range, Carol is still keeping a running tally of all the human lives she’s taken and giving her enemies second chances to do the right thing, even when logic says killing them would be the safer route. We’ve been told that the Saviors and Negan are bad news, thanks to the residents of Hilltop (and Daryl, Sasha and Abraham’s encounter on the road), but when you take a look at the damage inflicted so far, Rick’s people have a much higher on-screen body count, and far less justification to attack the Saviors than the Saviors have to harm them, given Daryl’s rocket launcher trick in the midseason premiere. Instead of focusing on a larger group going up against the Saviors, as we saw in last week’s bombastic installment, “The Same Boat” gave us a chance to sit with Carol and Maggie as they argued the merits of their choices against an equally tight-knit posse of survivors - one that was arguably every bit as justified in their defensiveness as our group. When a show has been on for a few seasons and established an emotional status quo among its characters, it earns the right to give us episodes like “The Same Boat,” an incisive chamber piece that serves as a compelling analogue to last week’s “Not Tomorrow Yet” in its surprisingly deep examination of moral relativism, ably penned by Angela Kang and directed with claustrophobic intensity by Billy Gierhart. Spoiler warning: Do not read on unless you’ve seen “ The Walking Dead” Season 6, Episode 13, titled “The Same Boat.”
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |